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[Skidril]

Red Diamond Tavern Evening Eleventh of Winter, 513 AV The lanterns brokered just enough light for pitch to be kept at bay. Still, another kind of black remained persistent enough to spread its fingers around everyone, and everything. The group didn't mind though. Being native to Avanthal, they had seen much of this half light, too much to experience it fully. Huddled somewhere to the side of the group, Skidril wasn't sure what was he really doing among them. Sure they were all with Coren when he heard the news. His wife was pregnant again... and this again signified their fourth. He wondered about fairness of the world when he still waited for his first, but did so quietly. Skidril knew better than to ruin Coren's moment with a moment of... whatever crept inside his head at times. It wasn't like anyone was forced to come with Coren, but the invitation was too joyous to be declined by anyone. He was a good man, and he deserved good company for such a night. What he got however was a bunch of fiercely tired carpenters and carvers who really would've been in their beds sleeping if it was a real matter of choice. Still, everyone did their best to try and fit their mood within the confines of this great news. They went along the snowed road as they sang and cheered to the best of their abilities, words like firecrackers. Even as he cheered, Skidril couldn't help but feel as if the whole world was getting their children, and that's why he and Neira were yet to conceive. It must've been some sort of a mix-up upstairs that kept shipping the babies two of them made everywhere other than their own arms. Such thoughts were proving to be a challenge as the group pressed on. He knew better than to try and remain present for the entire night. Being tired didn't help maintaining appearances, and that meant he couldn't remain with them and sane to the end. Moment of sour contemplation was repelled by a warm gust of air from the inside. Too out of it to notice their route, Skidril was genuinely surprised when he acknowledged the establishment for what it was. The unmistakable interior of the Red Diamond Tavern soon spread around them as they found each their own place around the designated table. Drinks were soon upon them, and the cheering continued. Rejuvenated by each their own poison, voices rose to new heights, as even some of the neighboring tables joined in celebration. Skidril mostly just drank what was in front of him, steering clear from being completely drunk. The bliss of tipsiness provided him with a good countermeasure for all the mixed feelings he had. And then he saw it, the symbol that made him believe that he was long past drunk. The very same engraving he saw on his father's signet ring, and on edges of some of his letters. And that wasn't the biggest shock! The symbol was neatly placed onto a necklace that hung from a woman's neck. This strange female wasn't familiar to him, and somehow she was familiar with his father? In a way that felt like insult to injury. He long since accepted that his father left and that he wasn't coming back to Avanthal, and that was perhaps close to alright. This however, this meant that on some level he replaced them. Skidril always expected that leaving for Lhavit was one of the hardest things his father ever had to do, but that still didn't excuse him being close to this girl. He might've been a good man, but he deserved to be alone as penance for what he'd done. Getting yet another woman, yet another boy, and yet another girl... another family – that was too much out of life for his old man. Where was the expected punishment? Taking the last hit from his glass, he excused himself on account of wishing to greet an old friend. Then he made his way around the tables and towards her. Something in him prayed to be wrong, but he still found it unlikely. „Where did you get that?“ he'd gesture to her necklace as he neared, his Vani sounding as broken and disembodied as the awkward languages of southern men. This anger he was feeling was new to him. Skidril usually loved his father despite all the flaws, but somehow the very notion of him perhaps replacing them for another more than made up for all the confusion. After the initial words breaking surface, he was unsure if he even needed to hear the answer. He feared it even.